144 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 
in the underlying beds. Perhaps the majority of the larger 
bogs in the west of Ireland, examined by the writer, of Mayo 
and Munster, the southern province originally represented shal- 
low lakes; the fresh water shell marl at the bottom of several 
examined is white like chalk, and when dry bears some near 
resemblance to the cretaceous substance. On this account | 
confess I entertain strong doubts of the alleged “oil strike” in 
Dublin, even while admitting that the chemist has succeeded in 
extracting a sort of parafine from peat. A recent writer in 
* Public Opinion,” points out to the Jurassic period, Texas 15 
indebted for the great gushers which come from Spindle Top, 
Montana, Wyoming, etc.; that the places indicated owe their 
oii to the land or marsh reptiles of this age, while in California 
the petroleum is drawn from tertiary deposits containing 
Mammalian remains. It may be so, but the original petro- 
leum deposits may belong to other formations, rock fissures 
may convey the material from one series to another. __Incredi- 
ble numbers of these “Lords of Creation,’’ accumulated under 
conditions at present utterly unexplainable, probably led my 
friend, Professor E. Chapman, Toronto University, an able 
chemist, acknowledged as such by scientific men in England 
and this continent, that he entertained a certain belief that the 
origin of petroleum was a matter for further investigation for 
the reasons he has already mentioned, viz., ‘the enormous 
quantity yielded both here, the United States, and elsewhere, 
renders the formation of this substance trom sea-weeds or 
perishable animal remains in the highest degree improbable. 
We all know before the flowing wells were discovered pe- 
troleum was extracted from the Utica Shale. In this case | 
can hardly see how the origin can possibly be doubted. There 
may be difficulty in understanding how the countless assem- 
blage of the crushed flattened Trilobites had been brought 
about. The writer has not seen the Whitby slate im situ at 
Collingwood or Whitby, C. W., which was known to produce 
20 gallons of mineral oil to the ton. From careful examina- 
tion of many large slabs from these localities, and enquiries 
from others acquainted with the formation there, it appears im- 
